13 Casings Found At Killing Scene Stolen Money May Have Been Motive In Frackville Shooting

January 17, 1995|by TYRA BRADEN, The Morning Call

Police have found 13 shell casings near the home of Anna Marie Wagner, the Frackville woman accused of shooting to death one young man and injuring another during what may have been an argument over money.

A second victim, Kristin DeLorge, 20, a young man who police said lived with Wagner, is in satisfactory condition at Pottsville Hospital, recovering from a rifle blast to the back.

Police said Wagner shot both men with a .22-caliber rifle Saturday outside her home, but they aren't sure why.

Frackville Patrolman Gerard Jankaitis said yesterday that Wagner at her arraignment Saturday revealed a possible motive.

"She was mumbling on to some of the media there that the reason she did this was over them stealing money," he said. "She accused DeLorge of stealing from her."

However, he said, "the police aren't confirming that. That's her statement, not mine. She said she picked up the gun and ran outside. We will not confirm that until we exhaust all leads. It could turn out to be untrue."

Jankaitis said he believes Wagner fired nine shots Saturday.

"The investigation shows, we found 13 casings, so that's another thing we're looking at. We believe some shots were fired the night before."

The shots that may have been fired Friday, he said, probably are the reason that DeLorge's car windows were shot up.

"We're just trying to confirm that now," Jankaitis said. "We're talking to neighbors. I will confirm that we found 13 casings."

A preliminary hearing is set tentatively for 10 a.m. Monday before District Justice Bernadette J. Nehas of Frackville.

Wagner is in the Schuylkill County Prison. She was jailed Saturday on two counts each of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. Bail was set at $100,000 cash.

After Hoffman died Sunday, she was re-arraigned on a count of criminal homicide. No bail was set on that charge.

Jankaitis said he had no new information on the shootings. He said he would head an "intensive" investigation.

In an interview Sunday, Jankaitis said a police dispatcher sent him to Wagner's home about 3 p.m. Saturday to investigate a report that a woman was shooting at people in the street.

Jankaitis said Hoffman was lying in the street when he arrived. The dispatcher told Jankaitis that Wagner was inside the house, on the telephone with emergency dispatch, holding the rifle. Jankaitis told the dispatcher to instruct Wagner to come outside, without the gun.

Instead, Jankaitis said, Wagner came outside with the rifle, fired into the air and went back inside. She came out a few minutes later, unarmed, he said, and was taken into custody.

Police learned that DeLorge had fled about a half block, to a neighbor's home, Jankaitis said.

Hoffman's death marks the first homicide in the borough police department's history.

Although some of the borough's 4,500 residents recall that someone was murdered in the borough 50 or 60 years ago, Jankaitis said, "police records don't go back that far. This (homicide) is the first one on the books."